Monday, April 16, 2012

Visit to Austin Books & Comics

I was lucky enough to take a rare non-comics related trip last month, yet still managed to get comics involved! Usually I spend my personal vacation time at New York Comic Con or other conventions along the east coast. This usually includes show prep, travel time, expenses, and loss of vacation days... so if I really think about it those aren't vacations in the traditional sense at all! Don't get me wrong, we do enjoy meeting fans at the shows, drawing commissions, and making Curls Studio more visible to the world, but let's face it - that's not a vacation. That's working.

So it was such a treat to enjoy a relaxing time at Austin Books & Comics in Austin, Texas. Their store is amazing and had an excellent selection of material including indie, self-publishers, all-ages, back issues, trading cards, buttons, shirts, newly released comics, and more. In addition, everything was clean and the aisles were easy to navigate. Several comic stores I have seen seem mildewy and dark with the front display comics damaged by sun, but at Austin Books & Comics the books were in good condition and it was a fun experience to shop there. They even put on a lot of in-store events and support the local community of artists. Many of the local creators are tagged with signs to indicate their books including Bad Cat Comics #1 which features a hand-printed silkscreen cover. The employees were friendly and guided me next door to their other shop, Guzu Gallery, which focuses on art books, special children's books, limited edition products, and designer toys.

In my eyes, Austin Books & Comics is doing it right by getting their customers excited and building a community base of fans and creators. The shop is beautiful and I hope more comic store head toward this direction. Even having a gigantic Hulk display is reason enough to come in the store.

Here is a photo of Jimmy Palmiotti's Queen Crab on the shelves. Shameless plug: I have a pin-up in that book.

As you can see in the photo above, my (not so secret) stash from Austin is filled with many goodies that I look forward to reading. I also purchased a card game called Nuts and a pack of old ALF trading cards!

Carolyn Belefski is available for freelance illustration work, commissions, or design work. She has done freelance projects for BOOM! Studios (Cartoon Network's Adventure Time), Clorox, National Geographic, The White House, and more. Email info@curls-studio.com with your project need and budget.

Want to see Curls Studio at a show in your town? Let us know about it and let the organizers know that you'd like to see us there.

Donate to Curls Studio

If you enjoy Curls Studio products, please donate to keep us motivated and in action! We travel locally in DC, MD, and VA... but also need your support to pay for printing costs and travel expenses for events like New York Comic Con. Your help is needed and appreciated. You never know what could come your way if you donate to Curls Studio.

CURLS STUDIO STORE

Best Visual Artist Runner Up - Best of D.C. 2013, 2014, 2015

My Design Portfolio

Sketch Before Sleep

Twitter Updates

Twitter Updates

Join us on Facebook

About Me

Carolyn Belefski creates and publishes original comics and illustrations. Carolyn writes and draws the comic strip Curls. She also collaborates with writer Joe Carabeo on the comic books Kid Roxy, Black Magic Tales, and The Legettes.
In 2010, Curls was nominated for the Friends of Lulu Kim Yale Award to recognize women in cartooning. In 2013 and 2014 Carolyn was voted Best Visual Artist runner-up for Washington City Paper’s Best of D.C. awards.
Carolyn became a National Cartoonists Society member in 2012, and is currently serving as a Washington, DC chapter Co-chair. With NCS, she started “Cartoonists Draw Blood” in Washington, DC by connecting with the American Red Cross, gathering local cartoonists, and organizing a blood drive where blood donors receive a sketch from a cartoonist.
Carolyn serves as editor-in-chief of Magic Bullet, Washington, DC’s comics newspaper anthology.
Carolyn has exhibited at New York Comic Con, Baltimore Comic-Con, Awesome Con, Small Press Expo, Pittsburgh Comic Arts Festival, Philly Alternative Comic Con, and many other comic conventions and art fairs.
CONTACT
info(at)curls-studio.com